Apparatus for stowing rock in a coal mine



Ap 9, 1940; F. cARTLlDGE APPARATUS FOR STOWING ROCK IN A COAL MINE Filed Nov. 1s., i938 5 Sheets-Sheet l I m llllllllllllllllllllll Il l Y.

F. CARTLIDGE APPARATUS Fox sTowmG Rocx. I'N A coAL MINE Filed NOV. 18, 1938 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 F. CARTLIDGE APPARATUS FOR STOWING ROCK IN A COAL MINE 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Nov.. 18, 1938 30 trates `anddescribes an' apparatus for stowing bing apparatus drawn to a slightly larger scaley 30l P tentefl Atr. 9, 1949il y. i; l l 2,196,659

NUNITEDfSTA\1 i=.;s; PATENTv OFFICE 7 its' A 2,196,659 y APPARATUS ron stro-WING ROCK 1N n GOAL MINE n f V,Frank Carthage, chicago, nl., assigner to Gema-1A mani Manufacturing Company, Chicago, Ill.,

acorporation Aof Illinois y VApplication November 18, 1938', Serial No. 241,101

- Claims. (Cl. 1987) rIfhis invention relates to 4improvements in apconveyerincluding a guiding connection between paratus for stowing -rcck in a coal mineand said conveyerswhereby said discharge conveyer more particularly relates to improvements in a may be guided to travel along said receiving conmobile conveying apparatus Aadapted to receive" veyer, and may swing said receiving conveyer las 5 material from a loading machine and stow this said discharge conveyer is swung from side to 5 material in a `low portion of the Working place. side. c l

In driving entriesin thin coal seams, it has Other objects of my invention will appearfrom heretofore been the practice to drive the entry time to time as the yaccompanying specification'` for its full width and either shoot down the'rock proceeds. Y l f d from the top of the'centnalrpart of the entry'or My invention will be more clearly understood 10 l take up rockhfromv the bottom to increase the vwith reference to the accompanying drawings' working height ofthe entry. yDue to the vprowherein: y y hibitive cost of removing thi's rock from the mine, "Figure 1 is a view in side elevation of a loadingV itis usually stowed orgobbe'd'in the low portion machine' mounted'on a track, with a gobbing4 ofy the entry by hand at a considerable expendiapparatus constructed in accordance with my in- 15 y ture'fof time and money. The useof conveyers` vention coupled thereto, for tramming abolita tostow thisv rock hasv never been satisfactory, mine from one working place tok another; especiallyywh'ere the roofl must be held up by '-Figurev2 is an enlarged plan View of the rear props, forthe reason that thefloading' machine part of the loading-machine arranged to dis-` 2() must continually move back and'forthalong the charge material into the gobbing apparatus, 20

track v'to pick up the rockfrom" the '.oor, and it showing the apparatus in a mine entry in posihasbeendiicult toget 'the s'towing conveyer -to tion to discharge material in the low portion of dischargebetween the prpsand still jarrange it the entry; 1 n so that material may be'contin'uously discharged Figure 3 is an enlarged plan view of the gobbing ,l

from the loading machine onto the stowingv'conapparatus, showing the gobbing conveyer dis- 2'5 veyer duringfmovement ofthe loading machine posed atvright angles with respect to the receivalong the track.l y i ing conveyer, and showing -certain parts of the Ar priorfyapplic'ation filed by `Thomas Pray apparatus broken away and in section; on November 12, 1938,` Serial` No. 239,902, illus- Figure 4 is a view in side elevation of the gobf rock in mines. The device oi my present inventhanligure, withcertain parts shown in subtion, however, diiers from that shown in the Pray stantially` longitudinal section` and with the gobapplication in that the'gobbing'apparatus'is arbing conveyer shown as being disposedat right y, ranged t0 remain Stationary Onthe traekiduring angles with respect to the receiving conveyer; the StOWing Operation instead of being'm'ovable Figure 5 is a viewin side elevation of the real 35' with the'machine. y part of the gobbing apparatus with certain parts The principal Object 0f my inVentOrl S'tO DTO- shown in substantially longitudinal section yand f. Vide an apparatus fOr StOWngior gobbing rOek in showing the gobbing conveyer arranged in'aligna coal mine, of anew and improved construction ment with its supporting truck; including a nevel arrangementef OOnVeyerS, One Figure 6 is an enlarged detail view of the rear 40 0f Which iS adapted ter be dSDSedbeYeath the, end ofthe dischargeconveyerof the loading madseharge end 0f the diecharge eOIlVeyer andrekchine showing certain details of the guiding con-k ceive material discharged tlierebgyas the leading nection between the discharge conveyer of the, machine InOVeS tOWaIdS and 'rOIn vthe apparatus loading machine and receiving conveyer `of theI while picking up loosek material from the ground, gobbing apparatus; and 45` and another 0f Which iS arranged t0, dSCharge Figure 7 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional and distribute rOck in a gobbing area in the viewtaken substantially along line 1-1 of Figmine to one side of the apparatus. K y l y ure 2; l

Another object of my invention is tearranee f Like reference characters refer to like parts 5o the discharge conveyer of the loading machine throughout the Several'fg'Lu-fes.y

andreceiving conveyerof the gobbing appara- Y The .embodiment of myv invention illustrated in"y tus in such a manner thatffsaid discharge conthedrawings is shown with a loading machine veyery may` continuously discharge material into I0, which is yherein shown as being a-track' said receiving conveyer when said dischargeconmounted'loading machine of a usual construction veyeris moving towardsfand fromV said receiving including a gathering'elementand elevating con- M "y veyer Il projecting forwardly from the supporting truck for the machine, for picking up loose material from the ground. and discharging it into a discharge conveyer I2 extending rearwardly beyond the rear end of the machine. Said discharge conveyer is mounted for vertical adjustment and for horizontal swinging movement to permit the discharge of material to either side of the track, orinto cars when the fmacleine is loading around a curve. v

A gobbing apparatus I3 is herein shown as being disposed beneath the discharge end of the discharge conveyer I2 of the lloading machine and includesl a receiving conveyer I4 mounted on and extending longitudinally along a track mounted truck I5 and adapted to be overhung by said discharge conveyer, and of a length equal f substantially to the length of the path of travel of the loading machine along the track during gobbing, and a stowing or gobbing conveyer 29 supported by the rear end of said receiving conveyer in cascade relationship with respect thereto.. A suitable coupling member I6 .may be p-rovided to couple the truck I5 with the loading machine when it is desired to transport'the apparatus about the mine.

The truck I5 has-a projecting frame portion I1 which extends beyond the track wheels and axles which are disposed adjacent the loading machine, in a direction towards the loading machine, which direction will hereinafter be termed a forwarddirection. Said projecting portion of said truck forms a pivotal support for the forward end of the receiving conveyer I4 (see Figure 4) i y `'I'he receiving conveyer I4 is pivotally mounted at its receiving or forward end on the forwardly projecting portion I1 of the truck I5on a shouldered bearing member 23. Said shouldered Ibearing member is secured at its top to a bottom 24 of a lframe 25 for said receiving conveyer in a suitable manner, such aswelding, and extends through and has bearing engagement with an aperture formed in a cross member 26 of the forward frame portion I1 of said truck. A shaft 21 is mounted in and extends through said bearing member and depends therefrom. Said shaft is mounted at its lower end in a cross member 28 of said forward frame portion.

The rear end of thereceiving conveyer I4 is supported on a track 30, herein shownv as being of an arcuate formationconforming to the arc of swinging movement of said receiving conveyer. Said track is secured to the rear end of the truck I5 and extends laterally beyond opposite sides thereof. A plurality of rollers 3I, 3l, mounted in a depending bracket I8, are provided to support said conveyer on said track.

The bracket ldepending from the rearward end of the receiving conveyer I4 has a rearwardlyy extending substantially horizontally. disposed gear housing and supporting frame member I9 `extending therefrom which forms a pivotal support for the gobbing conveyer 20 (see Figure 5). Said gear housing and supporting frame member, besides forming a support for said gobbing conveyer for supporting said conveyer for move- .ment about a vertical axis, also forms a housing and bearing support for the gearing for driving and swinging said gobbing conveyer about its axis of pivotal connection to said support, Ain a manner which will hereinaftermore clearly appear as this specification proceeds.

The receiving .conveyer I4, asfherein shown,

is a night vcom/fever of an ordinary construction".

and includes a pair of spaced apart endless chains 33, 33 having a plurality ofparallelspaced flights 34, 34 mounted therebetween. Said endless chains are trained around idlers .35, 35 at the forward end of the conveyer frame 25 and extend along a plate 36. Said plate forms a bottom for the conveyer, along which the loose material is carried,` and is mounted Abetween upwardly extending and outwardly flared side walls 31, 31 of the frame 25. Said chains are thence trained around idlers 38, 38 at the rear of the conveyer and forwardly along the bottom plate 24 of the conveyer over suitable drive sprockets 35, 39 on a transverse shaft 40, and under tension idlers4I, 4I to and around the idlers 35, 35.

The gobbing conveyer 20 is mounted on a support member 44, which supportv member is in turnmounted on and secured to the upper end of a vertical shaft 45 (see Figure 5). Said vertical shaft is journaled in the gear housing and supporting frame member I9 intermediate its ends and hasa worm gear 46 secured to its lower end which worm gear is enclosed by the gear housing and supportingframe member I9, and is journaled on its hub in the lower portion of said housing. Said ,worm gear forms a means for pivotally moving said shaft and swinging said gobbing conveyer in va 'horizontal' plane, and is meshed `with and drivenv from a worm 41 on a transverse shaft 48. SaidV worm and worm gear are of the self-locking type, to lock saidk gobbing conveyer in various positions of adjustment with respect to said receiving conveyer, and said worm is driven through a, chain and sprocket drivev 49 anda bevelv gear 5,0 adapted to be meshed with and vdriven from either one of a pair of facing bevel gears 5I, 5I `on a shaft 53. A pair of clutches 54, 54, herein `shown as being of the friction. cone type, is provided to selectively connect saidbevel gears with said shaft for driving the bevel gear 50, and swinging said gobbing conveyer in reverse directions without reversal of saidshaft. The .details of the drive to said shaft will hereinafter more clearly appear as this specification proceeds. v

The gobbing'conveyer 20 is likewise shown as being a night conveyer of an ordinary construction and includes a pair of spaced apart endless chains .56, 56 having flights 51, 51 carried therebetween. Saidendless chains are trained around idlers 59, 59 mounted at the front end of the fram-e forsaid conveyer and extend rearwardly and upwardly along abottom plate 60 mounted between side frame members 6I, 6I of the conveyer frame. Y

The sideV frame members 6I, 6I are outwardly ared vat their upper zedges, and are connected together kat their forward ends by a flared inclined plate 63. Said side `frame members together with the plate 63 may thus form a hopper, disposed beneath the discharge endof the receiving conveyer I4 for collecting material discharged therefrom.

The endless chains 56, 56 extend along the bottom plate 60 in a rearward and upwardly inclined direction and are trained around idlers 64, 64 atthe rear end of said gobbing conveyer frame. From said idlers, said chains extend forwardly and downwardly overdrive sprockets 65, 65 and tension idlers 66, `66 to and around the idlers 59, 59. f

With reference now in particular to the power drive connections to 1 the conveyers I4 and 20 and the power vdrive'connection for independently .swinging-,the conveyer `2l) in Aa horizontal il. o

y lgear 69 is mounted on -a transverse shaft v10,

journaled at the forward end of the forwardly projecting portion I1 of the truck I5. ,Said bevel gear is driven from said motorby means of a sprocket drive generally indicated by reference character 82; v

chain and sprocket drive generally indicated by reference charactervll (see Figures 3k and 4). Said bevel gear meshes with a bevel gear 12 journaled on the vertical shaft .21. Said lastv mentioned bevel gear meshes with and drives a bevel gear 14 on the forward end of a longitudinally extending shaft-15. Said longitudinal shaft is journaled at its forward end and intermediate its ends in bearing brackets 16, 16 securedvto and depending from the bottom 24 of the conveyer frame 25 and is journaled in the bracket I8 at its rear end. The shaft 15 may thus swing upon swinging movement of the receiving conveyer I4 and be driven from the motor 55 in the various positions of adjustment of said receiving conveyer with the truck I5,` provision being made inthe frame forthe truck I5 to permit swinging movement of said shaft and conveyer frame with respect to said truck.

The drive Ato the conveyer I4 includes a bevel gear 19 secured to the shaft 15 intermediate the ends thereof, whichl meshes with and drivesa bevel gear 8d on the inner end of a transversely extending shaft 8|, for driving said shaft (see Figure 3). The transverse shaft 40 is driven from said last mentioned shaft for driving the drive sprockets 39, k39 bymeans of a chain and The conveyer 2i) is swung about the axis of the shaft 45 and driven from the rear end of the shaft 'I5 b-y means of a spur pinion 83, secured to the rear end of said shaft and meshing with a spur gear 84, secured to the forward end vof the shaft 53 for driving said shaft (see Figure 5). The. gobbing conveyer 2li may thus be swung by power in reverse directions without reversal of the motor 55, through the'clutches 54, 54 and bevel gears 5I`, 5| and 50 when the receiving conveyer Id `is in various .positions of adjustment with respect to the truck I5. y

The gobbing conveyer 20 isdriven from the end of the shaft 53 opposite from the spur gear 34 by means of a bevel'v gear 85 which meshes with a bevel gear 86 journaled on the vertical shaft d5. Said bevel gear meshes with `and drives a bevel gear 81secured to the end of ahorizcntal shaft 88, journaled in vthe supportv member 44. A bevel gear 89 is secured to the rear end of said shaft and meshes with and drives a bevel gear Si) on a transverse shaft SI. Said transverse shaft has driving connection lwith the drive sprockets B5, 65 for driving said sprockets by means ofa Ichain and sprocket drive generally indicated by referencecharacter 92. l

It may be seen from the foregoing thatvthe motor 55, mounted on the truck I5, serves to rdrive both the receiving and discharge conveyers when said conveyers are in various positions of adjustment with respect to each other and with respect to the truck I5, and kalso serves to independently swing the gobbing conveyer in reverse directions without reversal of said motor. This permits the gobbing conveyer to be swung by power to and fro labout its axis of pivotaly connection to the rhousing and supporting frame I9 and distribute material between the props without interrupting the drive -to both `conveyers. v j

chine is moving back and forth along the track towardsand from said receiving conveyer, and

to swing `said receiving conveyer upon swinging Saidy movement of said discharge conveyer. guiding connection includes a pair of brackets S5, 94 secured to and projecting outwardly from and dependingv from opposite sides 'of said dis-V charge conveyer (see Figures 2, 6, and 7). Each offsaid brackets has` a pin B5 mounted therein, to which'is pivotally connected the upper end of a depending andoutwardly extending guide member 9E. Said guide members, as herein shown, extend outwardly and ldownwardly from the pins 95, 95 and are provided with depending ends which are adapted to slidably engage opposite sides of the receiving conveyer I4, thus forming a guiding connection between said discharge andgreceiving conveyers, topermit the discharge` of material from said discharge coni veyer into said receiving conveyer as said discharge conveyer moves along said receiving conveyer, and also forming a means for swinging said receiving conveyer about its axis of pivotal connection lto the truckV I5 upon swinging movement of said discharge conveyer in an obvious manner.VV Said discharge conveyer may thus serve as ameans to extend the gobbing conveyer 20 into, or withdraw it from the gobbing area and also to permit the discharge of material from the discharge to receiving conveyer when the loading'machine is operating` around a curve.

In operation, the gobbing apparatus ,may be coupled to the loading machine by means of the Coupling member I6 and be transported into the entry by means of said loading machine. `When the vgobb-ing apparatus is in the proper location, said coupling member may be disconnected, lto permit movement of the loading machine with respect to the gobbing apparatus towards and from the working face, for picking up the loose material from the ground while said gobbing apparatus remains stationary on the track. The guide members 96, 96 may then be engaged with the outer sides of the receiving conveyer I4 and said receiving conveyer may be swung in a direction away from the side of the entry that it is desired to insert the gobbing conveyer 2li, while lsaid gobbing conveyer is swung about the axis olf the vertical shaft 45, so it may readily be insertedbetween the props to discharge material close to the rib, with the removal of a minimum number of props.- When the gobbing conveyer has been inserted between the'props the loading machine may then pick up the rock from the working place and dischargeit into the receiving conveyer I4 and thence into the gobbing area by means of the gobb-ing conveyer 2U. Said gobbing vconveyer may be swung back and forth about the axis Aof the shaft 45 to distribute its load in the'gobb-ing area and when desired may'also be swung'towards or from the rib about the axis of connection of the conveyer I4 to the truck I5 by swinging movement of the discharge conveyer I2, through the guiding -connection between said discharge and receiving co'nveyers.v v f `Itmay thus be seen that a novelform of gobbing apparatushas been provided which is'adaptf ed to* be in-a stationary position during the gobbing operation and continuously vreceive material discharged from the discharge end of a loading machine while said loading machine travels backwardly and forwardly along the track forV beyond the rear end thereof, and has the other supported by and pivotally connected to its discharge end; that said conveyers are driven from a single source of power; that the gobbing conveyer may be reversely swung by power during the gobbing operation; and that the dischargel conveyer of the loading machine may swing .the gobbing and receiving conveyers about lthe axis of pivotal connection of the receiving conveyer to its supporting truck for moving the gobbing conveyer inwardly or outwardly with respect to the rib of the entry and to permit continuous loading from said discharge conveyer to said receiving conveyer when the loading machine is operating around ka curve.

While I have herein shown and described one form in which my invention may be embodied, it will be understood that the construction thereof and the arrangement of the various parts may be altered without departing from the spirit and scope thereof. Furthermore, I do not wish to be construed as limiting myself to the specific embodiment illustrated, excepting as it may be limited in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In a gobbing apparatus and in combination with a loading machine having a rearwardly projecting discharge conveyer, a truck having a receiving conveyer mounted thereon for'movement about a vertical axis adjacent the forwardend thereof and extending along saidy truck beyond the rearward end thereof, a guiding connection between said discharge and receiving conveyers for guiding said discharge conveyer for movement along said receiving conveyer to 'permit discharge of material from said discharge to receiving conveyers upon back and forth `movement of said loading machine with respect'to said truck during the gathering operation and for pivotally moving said receiving conveyer about its axis of pivotal connection to said truck upon swinging movement of said discharge conveyer, and a gobbing conveyer adapted to stow rock laterally beyond the side of said truck, saidconveyer being arranged in cascade relationship with respect to said receiving conveyer and being supported by said receiving conveyerr for pivotal movement about a vertical axis rearwardly of the rear end of said receiving conveyer, to permit the positioning of said conveyer between the props in the working place and the distribution of rockin the gobbing area.

2. In a gobbing apparatus and in combination with a track mounted loading machine having a horizontally swingable rearwardly projecting discharge conveyer, a track mounted truck adapted to be disposed beneath said loading machine and remain stationary on the track during backward and forwardv movement of said loading machine along the track, a receiving conveyer of a greater length than the length of the path of travel of said loading machine along the track during the gathering operation, said conveyer being mounted for movement about a'vrtical a'x-i's disposed adjacentfthe forward end of said truck 'and extending along said truck beyond 'the rear end thereof, r-a `guiding connection between said discharge and receiving conveyers to guide said discharge'conveyer "for lmovement along said receiving conveyer 'to discharge material into said receiving 'conveyer vduring movement of said loading machine back and forth along the track while picking'up material, and a gobbing conveyer arranged .in cascade relationship with respect to the "discharge end of said receiving conveyer and mounted for swingingmovement about a vertical axis disposed rearwardly of said truck, to permit the 'positioning of said conveyer between the props in the working place and the distribution of rockin the gobbing area.

3. In a gobbingjapparatus and in combination with a track mounted loading machine having a horizontally swingable rearwardly projecting discharge conveyer, a track mounted truck adapted to be disposed beneath said loading machine and remain stationary on the track during backward and forward movementof said loading machine along l"the track while gathering loose material from 'the `grounda receiving conveyer extending along said truck beyond the forward and rearward ends thereof and mounted thereon for movement about a vertical axis disposed adjacent its forward end,a guiding connection between said discharge and receiving conveyers for guiding said discharge conveyer for movement along said receiving conveyer for discharging material into said receiving conveyer upon movement of said loading machine back and forth along the track during the gathering operation andv for pivotally moving said receiving conveyer about its axis of pivotal connection to said truck upon swinging movement of said discharge conveyer, and a gobbing conveyer arranged in cascade relationship with respect to said receiving conveyer and pivotally supported thereby'for movement about a vertical axis, to -permit the positioning of said conveyer between the props in the Working place and the distribution of rockin the gobbing area.

4. In a gobbing apparatus and in combination with a track mounted loading machine having an overhanging horizontally swingable discharge conveyer, a truck frame mounted on track Wheels and axles and having a portion projecting forwardly beyond the front truck wheels, areceiving conveyer pivotally mounted on the forwardly projecting portion of said frame for movement about a vertical axis, said conveyer extending along said frame and rearwardly beyond the rear end thereof, a gobbing conveyer arranged in cascade relation with respect to said receiving conveyer and pivotally supported by said receiving conveyer for movement about a vertical axis disposed beyond the discharge end of said receiving conveyer, and a slidable guiding connection between said discharge and receiving conveyers to permit said discharge conveyer to move along said receiving conveyer and discharge material therein as said loading machine is moving towards and from said receiving conveyer.

5. In a gobbing apparatus and in combination with a track mounted loading machine having an overhanging horizontallyv swingable discharge conveyer, a truck frame mounted on track wheels and axles and having a portion projecting forwardly beyond the front truck wheels, a receiving conveyer pivotally mounted on the forwardly projecting portion of said frame for movement about a vertical axis, said conveyer extending along said frame and rearwardly beyond the rear end thereof and having slidable supporting engagement with said frame adjacent'the rear end thereof, a gobbing'conveyer arranged in cas-V cade relationship with respect to said receiving 5 conveyer and pivotally supported by said receiving conveyer for pivotal movement about a verti'- "cal axis'disposed rearwardly of the rearfend thereof, a power drive connection for swingingI said gobbing conveyer about said vertical axis, A

:License l 'i `1 5v and meansfor swinging said receiving and gobbing conveyers aboutthe axis of pivotal connection of said receiving conveyer to said truck upon swinging lmovenient of said discharge conveyer about its axis of"pivota1. connection to the loading machine including a slidable guiding connection between `said discharge vconveyer and the t sides of said receiving rconveyerl FRANK CARTLIDGE. 

